Rotating valves,particularly for gas,to two operative positions located on each side of a closed position



June 24, 1969 3,451,287 PARTICULARLY FOR GAS TO TWO OPERATIVE POSITIONS LOCATED ON EACH SIDE OF A CLOSED POSITION Filed June 26, 1967 of 3 Sheet F. RIVIERE ROTATING VALVES lNl/E/VTO/i, FRANCOIS RIVIERE ATTORNEYS June 24,1969

F. RIVIERE 3,451,287 I ROTATING VALVES, PARTICULARLY FOR GAS, TO TWO OPERATIVE POSITIONS LOCATED ON 'EACH SIDE OF A CLOSED POSITION Filed June 26, 1967 Sheet 2 of a F i a6.

' IIVVE/VTOR, FRANCOIS RIVIERE ATTORNEYS June 24, 1 969' 3,451,287 LA FOR GAS, TO TWO OPERATIVE POSITIONS LOCATED ON EACH SIDE OF A CLOSED POS Filed June 26, 1967 ITION Sheet 3 of3 F'. RIVIERE ROTATING VALVES. PARTICU RLY Fl 6T9.

l/VVE/VTOH, FRANCOIS RIVIERE ATTORNEYS United States Patent O Int. Cl. dos 11/00 US. Cl. 74-483 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An operator for gas-cock, that is manually move-d between first and second operative positions from an off position located therebetween. In order to prevent direct movement from the first operative position to the second operative position, a block device is actuated by a pin on the operator drive shaft during movement thereof from one operative position to block movement of the drive shaft to the other operative position.

'The present invention relates to manual operators for gas-cocks and, more particularly, to such an operator having a plurality of operative positions with an off position therebetween.

Gas-cocks of this type are utilized with cooking ovens wherein they are rotatable from an off position in one direction to supply fuel to the baking burner and in an opposite direction to supply fuel to the broiler burner. It is conventional procedure to furnish such gas-cocks with a locking device at its closed or off position to perform the safety function of preventing accidential movement from its off position.

An object of the present invention is to block the direct movement of a gas-cock operator between two operative positions.

Another 'object of this invention is to provide a gas cock operator with an added safety feature that does not modify or alter the usual operation of the gas-cock.

This invention has a further object in that a blocking device prevents the direct passage of a gas-cock operator from one to another operative position without returning to an intermediary locking position.

'In accordance with the present invention, an operator for a gas-cock includes a manually movable drive shaft having a plurality of operative positions and an off position therebetween, a blocking device movable between a normal position and a blocking position, and pin means on the drive shaft cooperating with the blocking device during movement of the drive shaft from one of its operative positions and moving said blocking device to its blocking position whereby the drive shaft is blocked from movement to another of its operative positions.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view with parts broken away and parts in section of a gas control device embodying this invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic end view of the blocking device 'of FIG. 1 shownin elevation;

FIG. 3 is a schematic end view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the blocking device in another position;

FIG. 4 is a schematic end view of a modification of the blocking device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic end view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the blocking device in another position;

FIG. 6 is a schematic end view of another modification of the blocking device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a partial elevation view of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a schematic end view similar to FIG. 6 but showing the blocking device in another position;

FIG. 9 is a partial cross section of a gas control device showing another modification of the blocking device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a schematic end view of the modification of FIG. 9; and,

FIG. 11 is a schematic end view similar to FIG. 10 but showing the blocking device in another position.

The first modification of the present invention is embodied in a gas control device, which in FIG. 1 shows the gas-cock in its closed position. The gas-cock is in the conventional form of a truncated conical plug valve rotatably seated in a conical bore in the control device housing. The large end of the gas-cock has 'a central recess for receiving a coil spring I and the end of a drive shaft 2. The coil spring 1 is thus mounted in compression between the gas-cock and the drive shaft 2. A driving connection between the gas-cock and the shaft 2 is effected by a drive pin or lug 3 radially extending from the shaft 2 and being slightly spaced from the inner end of shaft 2; the drive lug 3 is thus axially movable with the drive shaft 2 to engage cooperating lugs projecting from the large end of the gas-cock. As shown in FIG. 1, the drive lug 3 is disposed in a radial groove or slot 4 on the inner surface of an annular collar 5 which has a central aperture for the drive shaft 2 and which has peripheral flanges for attachment to the control device whereby the annular collar 5 defines a cover for the gascock assembly and its drive means. The gas-cock and the adjacent part of the housing are provided with stop means (not shown) to define the limits of rotation of the gas-cock, i.e., its maximum operative position in each direction of rotation.

The above described gas -cock assembly and its drive means are conventionally known in the prior art as exemplified by U.S. Patents No. 2,303,011, and No. 3,204,686. Such patents disclose the structural arrangement of a gas-cock being rotatable between on-off positions by means of drive shaft which .is locked in its ofl. position and is released therefrom by axial inward movement of the drive shaft. This is a safety feature so that the gas-cock may not be accidentally rotated from its off position to its on position.

In accordance with the present invention, an additional safety feature is provided in the form of a blocking device which prevents the rotation of the gas-cock from its two operative positions without first being returned to its locked ofl? position. The blocking device includes a pin 6 radially projecting from the drive shaft 2 and being axially spaced from the drive lug 3 so as to be spaced from the exterior wall of the annular collar 5. The radial pin 6 is operative to rotate a blocking cam 7 which is rotatably mounted on an axis 8 defined by one of the cap screws being utilized to fasten the flanges of cover collar 5 to the control device body. A spring blade 9 has one end fastened to the control device body and an opposite end disposed adjacent a rounded top edge of the cam element 7.

As is shown in FIG. 2, the cam 7 has a pair of peripheral teeth 7a and 7b with the space therebetween constituting a groove 7e into which the shaft pin 6 may be moved as when the drive shaft 2 is axially depressed from its locked off position. The cam 7 also has a second pair of peripheral projections with transversely bent arms 70 and 7d extending toward the annular collar 5. The arms 7c and 7d are circumferentially spaced from each other with the teeth 7a and 7b therebetween. The arms 7c and 7d abut the peripheral edge of the annular collar 5 to define the limits of rotation of the cam element 7.

The control device may be rotated from its oif position (as shown in FIG. 1) in two directions to two different on or operative positions; i.e., counterclockwise from its off position to one operative position and clockwise from its off position to a second operative position. The gas-cock knob and shaft 2 are first depressed axially against the bias of coil spring 1, whereupon the radial 'pin 6 is moved into the groove 7e and the drive lug 3 is displaced from the collar recess 4 so that the drive shaft 2 may be rotated. Thus, counterclockwise rotation of the drive shaft 2 (as viewed in FIG. 2) causes the pin 6 to abut the tooth 7a and pivot the cam 7 clockwise about its axis 8; as soon as the pin 6 clears the tooth 7a, the cam 7 is returned to its normal position by the bias of spring blade 9. After such clearance, the pin 6 does not engage cam 7 and the drive shaft 2 is free for continued counterclockwise rotation to be selectively disposed in its first operative position.

Assuming now that it is desired to move the gas-cock to its off position or to its second operative position, the drive shaft 2 is now rotated clockwise from its first operative position. As the drive shaft 2 approaches the off position, the radial pin 6 engages the left edge of tooth 7a causing the cam 7 to be rotated counterclockwise about its axis 8 until the arm 70 abuts the periphery of the collar 5 as shown in FIG. 3; at this point continued clockwise rotation of the drive shaft 2 is prevented and since the drive lug 3 is now aligned with the radial slot 4, the drive shaft 2 is displaced axially outwardly by the coil spring 1. Upon such axial displacement of the drive shaft 2, the radial pin 6 is also axially displaced from the cam tooth 7a whereby the cam 7 is rotated clockwise about its axis 8 by its return spring 9 to its original off position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Because clockwise rotation of the drive shaft 2 is stopped by the cam arm 70 abutting the periphery of the collar 7, the gas-cock control device must be returned to its off position in order to permit release of the cam 7 from its blocking position. Thus, the gas-cock control device cannot be moved directly from its first operative position to its second operative position without first being disposed in its olf position. Should it be desired to place the gas-cock in its second operative position, the same procedure outlined above is followed except that after initial depression of the drive shaft 2, the radial pin 1 actuates the cam tooth 7b, and during return movement to the off position the cam arm 7d engages the periphery of the collar 5 to block rotary movement past the off position.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a second modification of the blocking device wherein the cam 7 is replaced by two arms 10 and 11 pivotally attached to cover 5 on axes 8a, 8b, respectively, and being biased to a normal position by a return spring blade 9. The two arms 10 and 11 are each tapered so that their adjacent side edges define a space therebetween. In FIG. 4, the dashed lines represent the counterclockwise movement of the drive shaft 2 from its oif position; as soon as the radial pin 6 clears the end of arm 10, the return spring 9 causes the arm 10 to return to its normal position. When the drive shaft 2 is manually moved clock-wise from its first operative position as shown in FIG. 5, the radial pin 6 engages the left edge arm 10 which is pushed to the point where it butts against the arm 11; thus, the drive shaft 2 is immobilized in its off position because the two tapered edges of the arms 10 and 11 abut each other whereby any tendency of the arm 11 to pivot about its axis 8b is prevented since its edge would then be acting in opposition to the abutting edge of arm 10. The remainder of the operation of the modification in FIGS. 4 and 5 is similar to that described above in connection with FIGS. 1-3.

A third modification of the blocking device is shown in FIGS. 6-8 wherein the spring blade 9 and the arms 10 and 11 are replaced by a flexible blade 13 fixed on a leg of an L-shaped support 12 that is secured to the collar 4 5. The blade 13 is folded in a U shape with depending arms 13a and 13b. The arms 13a and 13b have intermediatelydisposed stiffeners 13c and 13d, respectively, that limit the flexible movement about the support 12. The extremities of arms 13a and 13b are each provided with a notch 13h and with notched claws 13a and 13 respectively, perpendicularly bent toward each other. As is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the radial pin 6 is axially movable with the drive shaft 2 into the space between the arms 13a and 13b, and the dashed lines in FIG. 6 represent the displacement of the flexible arm 13a by the radial pin 6 upon counterclockwise rotation of the drive shaft 2. As is shown in FIG. 8, clockwise rotation of the drive shaft 2 from its first operative position causes the pin 6 to deflect the arm 13a up to the point where the claw 13c pushes against the notched extremity 13h of the arm 13b thus immobilizing the arm 13a and the drive shaft 2 in its off position. The remainder of the operation is similar to that described above in connection with FIGS. l-3.

FIGS. 9, l0 and 11 represent a fourth modification of the blocking device wherein the blocking element is a generally U-shaped spring blade 7 which has one end secured to the gas-cock body 14 by the cover collar 5. Intermediate its ends, the spring blade 7 has a fold or curl 7 giving elasticity to its entire length. The free end of blade 7 extends through a slot 14a in the gas-cock body 14, which slot has a thickness slightly greater than that of the blade 7 and a width so as to permit lateral displacement of the blade end as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, which is comparable to the movement of the cam 7 in FIGS. l-3. The extremity of the blade 7 has two teeth 7a and 7b separated by a space or groove 7e. In this modification, the radial pin and the radial lug are integrally formed as a single pin 3 secured to the drive shaft 2 for unitary rotation therewith. As is illustrated in FIG. 10, the top of pin 3 has two flat surfaces 3a and 3b for engaging the blade teeth 7a and 7b. The pin 3 is axially movable with the drive shaft 2 so that the flat surfaces are disposed in the groove 7e between the teeth 7a and 7b; the dashed lines in FIG. 10 represent the deflected position of the blade 7 by the pin surface 3a upon counterclockwise rotation of the drive shaft 2. Clockwise rotation of the drive shaft 2 (FIG. 11) from its first operative position causes the pin surface 3b to deflect the blade tooth 7a up to the point where the blade tooth 7b engages the edge of the slot 14a thus immobilizing the blade 7 and the drive shaft 2 in its off position. The remainder of the operation is similar to that described above in connection with FIGS. 1-3.

Inasmuch as the present invention is subject to many variations and changes in detail, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown on the accompanying drawings, shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. An operator for a control device comprising a control device housing,

a guide collar secured to said housing and having an aperture adapted to support a drive shaft,

a manually movable drive shaft having one end extending into said housing and adapted to operate a control device therein,

said drive shaft being carried by said guide collar for rotary and axial movement relative thereto,

a blocking device carried by said guide collar so that axial movement is precluded but that rotational movement is permitted upon movement between normal and blocking positions, and

pin means on said drive shaft cooperating with said blocking device during movement of said drive shaft from one of its operative positions and rotating said blocking device to its blocking position whereby said drive shaft is blocked from movement to another of its operative positions.

2. The invention as recited in claim 1 wherein said blocking device includes resilient means for biasing the blocking device toward its normal position.

3. The invention as recited in claim 1 wherein said blocking device includes a pair of spaced elements extending toward said drive shaft and said pin means is movable into and out of the space between said spaced elements in response to axial movement of said drive shaft.

4. The invention as recited in claim 1 wherein said drive shaft is axially movable to and from its off position and is rotatable to and from its operative positions.

5. The invention as recited in claim 4 wherein said drive shaft and guide collar includes locking means to lock said drive shaft against rotation when in its off position, said drive shaft being axially movable from its off position to release said locking means.

6. The invention as recited in claim 5 wherein said blocking device includes blocking means and a pair of spaced elements biased toward said normal position and extending toward said drive shaft, and wherein said pin means is movable into and out of the space between said spaced elements when said drive shaft is axially moved, one of said spaced elements being engaged by said pin means to actuate said blocking means when said drive shaft is rotated from one of its operative positions, and the other of said spaced elements being engaged by said pin means to actuate said blocking means when said drive shaft is rotated from another of its operative positions.

7. The invention as recited in claim 6 wherein said blocking means and said spaced elements are integrally formed on a peripheral portion of a biased cam pivotally mounted on an axis in spaced parallel relation to the axis of said drive shaft, said blocking means cooperating with said guide collar to define its blocking position.

8. The invention as recited in claim 6 wherein said spaced elements comprise a pair of biased arms, each arm having its own pivotal axis and having a tapered configuration to define a triangular space therebetween, said blocking means being defined by adjacent surfaces of said arms, and wherein said pin means moves one of said arms until its surface abuts the adjacent surface of the other arm to define its blocking position.

9. The invention as recited in claim 6 wherein said blocking means and spaced elements are integrally formed on a flexible blade to define an U-shaped configuration, said blade having a centrally fixed support portion disposed in spaced parallel relation to the axis of said drive shaft, said spaced elements comprise arms deflectable relative to said support portion, and wherein said blocking means includes claw means on the extremity of each of said arms, and wherein said pin means moves one of said claw means on one of said arms until it engages an extremity on the other of said arms to define its blocking position.

10. The invention as recited in claim 6 wherein said blocking means and spaced elements are integrally formed on a spring blade having an intermediate curled portion to define a deflection area, one end of said spring blade being fixedly supported on said guide collar, said spaced elements comprising spaced teeth on the other end of said spring blade, and said blocking means comprises an edge wall on each of said teeth cooperating with said guide collar to define its blocking position, and wherein said locking means comprises a radial lug projecting from said drive shaft and recess means in said guide collar receiving said radial lug when said drive shaft is in its off position, and said pin means comprises an extension on said radial lu g References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,912,881 11/1959 Imhoif 25l286 XR 3,012,584 12/1961 Perow et al. 251-96 XR 3,204,686 9/1965 Thomson 431-77 FRED C. MATTERN, Jr., Primary Examiner.

JAMES A. WONG, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

